denotation and connotation

Well, hello there. I am Hamidreza Ahmadi with lingophoenix. Today, I would like to talk about something which is honestly - as I have observed - less focused on in English classrooms, but it has a significant effect on how people understand what you say. Welcome to my 17th Podcast on Denotation and Connotation. You see, everybody looks up a word in a dictionary here and there. Many suffice to read the definition and perhaps the pronunciation, and at best the examples given for it. But, there’s more to a word than a dictionary has to offer sometimes. Look here, you might call someone who carries some extra weight fat, overweight, plump, or chubby. But calling someone fat has consequences; it is considered to be very rude and offensive, but chubby makes you feel precious because it’s cute. However, the difference in the meaning of these words is minimum regardless of how they might make us feel. In other words, these words have the same denotation which is the basic and literal meaning of a word, in contrast to the feelings or ideas the word might invoke. Connotation, on the other hand, has to do with feelings and ideas that a word suggests. Let me give you a few examples; thin, slender and skinny, all refer to the same meaning. But if you use slender to describe someone, you’re actually saying that they are gracefully thin. When you use slender, it is a compliment and the one who it is said to feels pleased. In contrast, skinny is mean and is used to offend or make fun of someone because they’re a bag of bones with a skin covering it. In other words, slender has a positive connotation and skinny a negative one. What happens to thin? Well, thin has neither a positive nor negative connotation. It’s a neutral word and suggests no other thing than its literal meaning. Another word we can take a look at is meticulous. A meticulous person is precise and shows great attention to detail. Meticulous has a positive connotation, whereas the word pedantic has a negative connotation. A pedant is roo mokh and keeps annoying you with unimportant rules and details. Also, let me add that sometimes the connotation of a word has its roots in culture. You can call someone pig-headed to show your frustration with how stubborn someone is. Being pig-headed is a concept readily understood in English culture whereas in our Iranian culture this term seems weird and incomprehensible. It is needless to say that calling someone a cow in English connotes the same thing, an overweight person who casually overeats, too. And as you may have already guessed, this word has a negative connotation. A chick is a baby chicken. But, there’s more. For its second use, this word is considered by many girls to be offensive. When you call a girl a chick, you mean that they’re young and attractive. You’ve got to be extra careful when using this word. Your level of friendship and acquaintance with someone makes it cool or uncool to use this word. Angel, though, is safe. You may be crossing the street when you come across a young attractive woman and your mind thinks god, what an angel! However, if I don’t know someone too well, I honestly steer clear of making any comments aloud, because it is none of my business how people look. Got the irony? Again, The same thing in English. We can say Vladimir is martyred to be sympathetic and show our support; we can say the guy was sent to hell, or we can simply use the word kill not to mean anything either positive or negative. Talk to you soon.

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denotation and connotation is an episode from Lingo Phoenix's Podcasts.

This episode is 00:05:54 long.

This episode was published on May 14, 2021.

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